How significant is a vacation to employees? Well, rested workers are healthier and more productive workers. Taking a break can reduce pressure, help avoid burnout, and promote work-life balance by enabling more time spent with loved ones, close friends, and significant others.
Yet a lot of employees never take a break often enough, and many never use all of the allotted PTO. According to research, American employees leave four full days of holiday on the table yearly, with fifteen available and eleven have taken. About 122 million full-time workers in America amount to just below 500 million unused holidays per year.
Lack of Holiday/Vacation Affects the Wellbeing of Employees
Sixty per cent of workers who do not feel they have the right work-life balance are concerned about not having time to care for themselves when it comes to wellbeing, exercise, and diet; this is according to the survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Purchasing Power. And there’s a cause for concern.
Constantly working long hours and not taking a break away from the job can harm wellbeing and negatively affect family life. Nine-year research reported in Psychosomatic Medicine discovered that holidays lessen the risk of health issues, including heart disease. Men who didn’t take a break for many years were 30% more likely to experience a heart attack than those who took a break at least seven days per year.
Also, the study showed that skipping even one year of vacation time can be related to an improved chance of heart disease. The extremely reliable Framingham Heart Study discovered lack of vacation might be equally dangerous for women.
Women who took a break once every six years were eight times tend to have coronary heart issues or suffer a heart attack compared to those who took a break at least two holidays per year.
Why Consider Taking a Vacation?
Taking breaks is not a luxury rather a necessity for a properly balanced, healthy life. Here are some reasons why you should consider taking a break:
Relax, Rest and Recharge
Dedicating enough time for relaxation, recharge, and rest is very important; this is not often obtained throughout a weekend; therefore, dedicating enough time away to unplug can assist you in resetting. Holidays or taking a break has been known to help boost overall sleep quality.
Improved Focus and Productivity
We all have our limits, and pushing yourself too far can really become counterproductive. Many workers felt they were more creative and fruitful after taking a holiday. Studies also find chronic pressure can affect part of our brain, which inhibits goal-directed activities as well as causes issues with memory. Constant work without vacation time or a break can make us feel distracted and blocked and have problems focusing. Surveys show virtually three-quarters of employees who took a break regularly felt more thrilled and animated and ready to handle the jobs at hand.
Reduce Stress
Stresses are a natural physiological response, originally intended to assist you and keep you safe and sound. It generates hormones like cortisol as well as epinephrine for the flight or fight response which was needed for early humankind. On the other hand, chronic series are destructive to the body in today’s society.
Taking vacations and leaving your daily stresses, even if for the short term, give you a break from the continuous high levels of these hormones as well as an opportunity to fix and repair.
Help Prevent Health Issues like Heart Illness
Pressure and stress is the main contributor to heat illness and high blood pressure. Long-term research in men and women has revealed that taking breaks can lessen the threat of heart illness and heart attack. Male who took holidays regularly were more than 32 per cent less chance to die from cardiovascular disease; on the other hand, women who took a holiday regularly, which number jumps to 50 per cent less chance to die due to heart attack.
Make You Happier
Research has discovered that brain structure can be changed by too much exposure to stress hormones adding to anxiety and depression. Research reveals that women who don’t take regular breaks are three times more likely to be anxious and depressed. This confirms research that discovered people who take regular breaks reported feeling very happy about the overall feeling of health as opposed to those who didn’t take a break. And a lot reported these impacts lasting beyond the actual holiday or vacation.
Strengthen Relationships
Taking a break with loved ones or friends or family members assists forge of closer relationships. Studies have discovered women who take breaks with spouses report feeling content with their marriages. The study has also uncovered an association between kids’ academic achievement as well as summer family vacations. The shared experiences encourage family bonding that is priceless. Family vacation makes more memories compared to other activities. Other research has discovered that people put a higher value on their shared experiences on holidays than material things they have obtained during their lifetime.
Improve Quality of Sleep
Studies have revealed that those who take a break regularly reported a virtually 20 per cent improvement in the quality of sleep.
Get Slimmer and Thinner
A mainstream of heavy people admits to tedious eating as an answer to stress. A stress hormone like cortisol is associated with improved belly fat and weight gain associated with heart illness. Studies have revealed that even if indulging more on holiday, people who take a holiday regularly feel more energized and are also often active on holiday.
Conclusion
These are just some of the benefits that you can get if you take a vacation. If you are an employee, make sure to make the best out of the PTO that the company offers.
